


avocados at law

by erisphant



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:02:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24779578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erisphant/pseuds/erisphant
Summary: Everyone's gay at Nelson and Murdock
Relationships: Elektra Natchios/Karen Page, Matt Murdock/Franklin "Foggy" Nelson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23





	1. i'm totally straight

**Author's Note:**

> here's another fic i wrote like, four years ago for a fandom i'm no longer involved in. i hope some people enjoy it cause it's just floating around in my google drive

Foggy knew he was screwed the moment a young, scraggly Matt Murdock walked into his college dorm room.

He still cringed at the memory. How stupid did you have to be to blurt out ‘You’re hot’ at a guy who was almost definitely straight? He’d just barely managed to save himself by delving into a crappy speech about girls and dates. Part of him was still sure that Matt saw right through him, but if that was true, why had he stayed? Most straight guys would be weird about bunking with another guy who had a crush on them.

Instead Matt had laughed it off with him and become his best friend all through college, all through law school, and all through many, many more slip ups and crappy speeches about girls. Foggy was sure that one day he was going to have to explain himself and that’d be the end of their friendship, but for now, everything seemed to go smoothly. His secret was safe, as long as he didn’t blurt it out one night at Josie’s. 

That is, if Karen didn’t blurt it out first.

He hadn’t come out to her or anything, but Karen was a natural lawyer, so she pretty much guessed it straight away. “Really?” She had asked, giving him an impressively judgemental look after Matt had left. “Was that the best you could do? No wonder he does the opening remarks.”

Foggy had tried to brush it off. “What do you mean?” He laughed uneasily, swirling his suspiciously gray drink. “Hey, do you think this thing is toxic? Am I going to grow a third ear if I drink it or something?”

Karen looked far from impressed. Unlike Matt, she wasn’t going to play along to make him feel better. “Foggy, I’ve seen twelve year old boys hide their crushes better than you. How long has it been like this?”

Foggy tried not to choke on his drink. “Uh, what do you mean by that, exactly?” He stammered, trying to act casual and failing miserably. 

“Your crush on Matt.” Karen just refused to coddle him. Sometimes it was nice, and he could appreciate it, like when they were working on a hard case. Other times, like when she was grilling him about his unrequited feelings for his best friend, he really didn’t appreciate it. “How long?”

Foggy really should’ve done both of them a favor and let it go then. But he couldn’t. Because spending five years hiding your feelings didn’t make it easy to let go. “What are you talking about?” He forced the fakest sounding laugh he’d ever heard. “I don’t have a crush on Matt! That would be ridiculous. He’s my best friend! And besides, we’re both guys, and he’s straight-I mean, of course I’m straight, why would I…” His voice had gotten significantly higher, and he was pretty sure half the bar was staring at him.

Karen sighed, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Are you done?”

Foggy had no way to recover from that, so he just squeaked out a “Yes.” 

“Good, because you’re embarrassing yourself again.” Karen shook her head a little. “You realize that if I know, he probably knows too?”

Foggy’s first attempt at a reply came out as another squeak, so he took a drink for bravery and tried again. “What do you mean?”

“Matt’s blind, but he’s not...well...blind.” Karen cringed at the wording. “And you’re not exactly being subtle, you know that?”

“I’m being subtle.” Foggy said defensively, then realized how stupid it sounded.

Karen gave him one of her best skeptical looks. “Most people don’t call their best friends hot on a regular basis, Foggy. And if they do, they don’t try to say it’s because they could get a date with anyone they wanted...and then act jealous when they do.”

Foggy’s mouth felt dry, and at this point he wasn’t sure if it was the drink or the conversation. Probably a bit of both. “So what you’re saying is Matt thinks I’m pathetic.”

“Of course not!” Karen shook her head adamantly. “Look, if you’re being as obvious as I think you are-which you are-then Matt doesn’t care. So you should stop worrying about what he thinks.”

Her speech was probably supposed to be encouraging, but hearing that his best friend had probably known all this time about the crush he’d tried so desperately to hide didn’t really do much to lift his spirits. Foggy groaned and pressed his face against the table. “Fuck my life.”

Karen patted him on the back sympathetically. “Hey, don’t feel bad. It happens to the best of us. And Matt is pretty hot.”

“You are _not_ helping.” Foggy mumbled, voice muffled by the wood. 

Karen gave a little huff. “Well, if you’re going to insist on feeling sorry for yourself, I guess I’ll have to do something about it. As usual.” She added under her breath.

“What do you mean?” Foggy just barely lifted his head to glance at her. She had that scary determined look on her face, the one she usually got before they were dragged in way over their heads.

“Well, Matt knows, and he’s obviously not bothered by it, so I think you stand a chance.” Karen stood, gathering her things into her purse. “I’ll set you up. It’ll be like a….blind date.” She grinned.

Foggy groaned, both at the horrible pun and what she was proposing. “Fuck off.” He said, looking back at the table. “Even if Matt was into guys, he’d never go out with me. I’m just…”

“You, Foggy Nelson,” Karen said, leaning down beside him, “Are his best friend, and an excellent attorney. Do not sell yourself short.” With that, she straightened up and walked out of the bar. “I’ll see you Monday!” She called over her shoulder.

Foggy sighed heavily, watching her go with that same sinking feeling he’d had all those years ago.

He was so screwed.


	2. truly pathetic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karen tries to take matters into her own hands.

Matt was not expecting an angry Karen to show up at his doorstep.

Maybe he should’ve been. Lately, everybody angry was turning up at his doorstep. It was just usually because of a court session he had missed or the vigilante thing.

He knew it was her before he even opened the door, but he had to wait for her to speak first. “We need to talk.” Karen snapped, walking straight past him.

Matt paused, a bit taken aback. “Uh...nice to see you too, Karen.” He closed the door behind her. 

Karen stopped a few feet away, turning back around to cross her arms. Then she realized Matt couldn’t see her anyway, so it was pointless. “I brought you some case files to look at.” She said, holding them out.

“That’s not really why you’re here at eight in the morning, is it?” Matt walked over to take the files. Usually even Karen didn’t show up that early.

Karen waited a few moments, either for him to finish reading or to gather herself. “It’s about Foggy.”

Matt looked up, maybe a bit quicker than he should’ve. After all, he was supposed to be a cool, suave lawyer. “What about him?”

Karen gave a little huff, like she’d been expecting that. “You’re both killing me with this unrequited love thing.”

Matt made a little choking noise, which also ruined the cool and suave lawyer facade. “What do you mean?” He asked, trying desperately to recover it.

Karen rolled her eyes. “You know exactly what I mean. He keeps flirting and you keep acting like you don’t notice.”

Matt tried to laugh, but it sounded more like a struggle to speak. “I don’t…”

“You both keep pining after each other and then feeling sorry for yourselves.” Karen sounded entirely done with the both of them. He didn’t need to listen to her heartbeat to know that. “Am I right?”

Matt struggled with how to respond. He might’ve given in and agreed with her, except something was sticking out to him. “Did Foggy tell you…?”

“He didn’t need to tell me anything. You’re both so obvious you may as well have it plastered all over your faces.” She stopped to take a breath. “But, yes, I talked to him. And now I’m talking to you. Because this is stupid. You should both just come out with it already.” She paused. “No pun intended.”

Matt had to grin at that, but it quickly faded. “I don’t think,” He stopped, then started again. “If he was really interested, he would’ve said something by now.”

“Matt,” Karen said, sounding completely exhausted again. “He thinks you’re straight.”

“He does?” Matt was so taken aback by that, it was all he could say. Suddenly, things made a lot more sense. The ridiculous amount of speeches about girls, for one thing.

“Yes.” Maybe he was imagining it, but she sounded slightly more hopeful now. “So why don’t you just do us all a favor and clear things up?”

Matt hesitated. She had a point. What was the point in keeping things as messed up as they were now? But there were other things to consider. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not fair to him.” Matt managed to say, despite every other part of him wanting to agree with her. “Foggy deserves better than me.”

Karen just stared at him for a long time. “Are you fucking kidding me?” If she’d sounded hopeful before, she’d now done a complete 180 and sounded ready to give up on the both of them. “You wanna know what’s not fair to him? Dragging him along like this because you’re too busy with your own self esteem issues to really consider someone else’s feelings for once.” She paused, taking a breath. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe he does deserve better since you’re being such a coward.”

“Karen,” Matt choked back an angry retort, even though he’d walked right into it. He paused to collect himself, then continued quietly. “That’s not fair.” 

“Like hell it is.” Karen stopped, taking many long, deep breaths to calm herself. Eventually, her heart rate slowed again. “I’m sorry,” She said, and it sounded mostly true. “It’s just...you two should at least talk. You’re suffocating the rest of us with your romantic tension.”

Matt smiled faintly, in spite of himself. “I’m not sure…”

“Matthew Murdock,” Karen said, in her best stern motherly voice. “You are going to talk to your friend about your feelings or I am going to talk to him about it for you.”

Matt was silent. He could’ve said she was bluffing, but her heartbeat said otherwise. “Fine.” He said, trying for a smile. “Since you’re so determined to blackmail me. I’ll talk to him.”

“Good.” Karen sounded satisfied with that. She started to head out, then stopped. “And Matt?”

“Yes?” Matt answered, resisting the urge to ask if she was going to yell at him some more.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment. “I want those papers back on my desk by tomorrow morning.”

Matt actually smiled this time. “Got it. Tomorrow morning.”

Karen headed out, but he heard her mutter one last thing before closing the door. “Good luck.”

\--

Matt had not been looking forward to Monday morning.

He knew Karen would corner him as soon as she saw him, and he was right. 

She slammed her hands down on his desk, thoroughly interrupting his work. “Well?” She demanded, just above a whisper.

Matt carefully moved his coffee mug further away from her. “Well?”

Karen huffed impatiently. “You’ve been sitting here for a full hour.” She hissed. “Do something!”

Matt started stacking up the papers she’d tossed around. “Do what, exactly?”

“Talk. To. Him.” Karen had that tone of voice that meant she was done messing around. Usually she only brought it out when they were dealing with a particularly sneaky bad guy. 

Matt knew better than to push it any further. He sighed, getting to his feet as slowly as possible. “I don’t know what you’re expecting.” He muttered, trying to prolong the process as much as possible. 

Karen put one hand on her hip, pointing firmly at Foggy with the other. “Go.”

Matt sighed again, fumbling for his cane. There wasn’t much more he could do to put it off, though, and soon he was walking to his doom. 

He decided to approach it casually. “Hey.” He said, stopping a few feet away. ~heterosexuality barrier~

Foggy looked up from his work. “Oh, hey,” He said, grinning. “Did you read the case file yesterday? Why do we always get the weirdos?”

“Because no one else is crazy enough to take them.” Matt said automatically. He could already feel Karen’s eyes boring into his back.

He laughed. “Yeah, that’s true. So what’s up?” 

Matt knew what he was supposed to say. He also knew Karen was going to kick his ass if he didn’t. But he couldn’t make himself do it. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”

“Okay. What’s that?”

Matt tried to continue, but he couldn’t. “I…” Foggy waited expectantly. “I….was wondering about this case file, you know. Some things stuck out as strange. I thought maybe we could go over it later. If you have time.”

“Oh...uh….sure, Matt. Whenever.” He shrugged, going back to his work.

Matt retreated to his desk, silently cursing himself. Karen gaped at him. “That was pathetic.” She whispered.

Matt slowly settled back into his chair. “I know.” He muttered. He could face down dozens of wanted criminals in one night, sustain multiple life threatening injuries, and then do it again the next day. But he couldn’t fess up to a crush.

Truly pathetic.


	3. girl like you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karen meets one of Matt's old friends.

Karen was tired.

Not tired in a ‘stayed up all night working on solving a case’ way. Tired in a ‘Matt Murdock is entirely exasperating’ way. 

But she couldn’t yell at him. Not because she wasn’t willing, but because he had wisely fled the building as soon as the workday was over. Foggy shortly followed after realizing she was far from in the mood. So she stayed behind to clean up, taking out her anger on the papers covering her desk.

“Stupid boys.” She muttered, roughly shoving them into a drawer. “Why can’t they just get over themselves? But no, I have to get caught in the mess. Maybe sort out your own issues for once…”

She was interrupted by a soft knock on the (already open) door. “Hello?” A brunette woman stood in the doorway, looking somewhere between amused and wary. “I’m looking for Matthew. I was told he works here?”

Oh, great. One of Matt’s many girlfriends. (She wasn’t actually sure if they existed, but she’d heard enough from Foggy to get an idea.) “We’re closed. You’ll just have to come back tomorrow to see him.” Karen grumbled, dumping multiple papers into a trash can.

“I see.” She had a subtle accent-maybe British, maybe something else. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude. Are you his friend?”

“Sometimes.” Karen muttered, kicking the trash can. She looked up at the woman, who was looking unsure if it was safe to be here or not, and suddenly felt bad. “I’m sorry,” She said, trying for a smile. “I’ve just….had a rough day.”

“Understandable. May I come in?” She glanced at the trashcan. “Or will you throw me away too?” It sounded like she was teasing.

“Of course not-I mean, yes, you can come in-but of course I won’t throw you away, you don’t look anything like trash…” Karen trailed off, blushing hard. Fantastic. She was babbling.

To her surprise, the woman smiled. “I should hope not.” She stepped inside. Her hair was long, dark, and wavy, and Karen instantly realized she had a thing for brunettes. She was dressed well, not only fashionable, but also in a way that clearly showed off her wealth. “What a quaint little place you have here.” She said, not unkindly. 

“Thanks.” Karen said, almost pinching herself to keep from sounding like an idiot again. “It’s, uh...it’s not much. But I try to keep it looking nice.”

“You did a good job.” She walked forward, offering her hand with a smile. “My name’s Elektra. And yours?”

“Karen.” Karen shook her hand. It wasn’t soft like she expected, but callused from work. Still, she found that she didn’t mind. “Do you want me to take a message for you? I can tell Matt you were here.”

Elektra eyed her closely. “No, no, it’s fine. I may come back here all the same though. I’ve been looking for a good attorney.”

“Really?” Karen asked, resisting the urge to say ‘Well, then you’d better keep looking’. “Why’s that?”

Elektra grinned like she had a secret. “Oh...a girl like me? We get into all sorts of trouble.” She tossed her hair back. “Surely you understand.”

“Who, me?” Karen suddenly found herself stuttering like she was in third grade. “I’m not...I’m nothing like you.” She blushed again. “Not that that would be a bad thing, it’s just...you’re so…”

“So what?” Elektra raised an eyebrow, not looking offended, but expectant. 

Karen shrugged, suddenly at a loss for words. “I...I don’t know.” She said pathetically.

“Hm,” Elektra didn’t seem fazed. “Well, I’m sure we’re more alike than you think.” Karen thought she saw her wink, but then was almost sure that she had imagined it. “But I really must be going now. Busy schedule and all that.” She left with a quick wave. “See you.”

“See you.” Karen found herself waving back, a little dumbstruck.

Matt really did get the best girls.


End file.
